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Reader feels Juniper residents being targeted again

Tiffanie Owen, Alamogordo

Posted:
09/17/2013 10:09:50 PM MDT

Just when we thought City Commissioner Robert Rentschler had acquired some common sense and understood the role that he was elected to fulfill as a representative of the people, we receive word that the City Commission is considering a one-sided parking rule to Juniper Drive.

We expected retaliation, but not this soon.

What did we do to deserve this? Apparently we have the misfortune of having elected an incredibly misguided man to represent our district.

The new plan is to force all street-parking to the east side of the street. This is contrary to "Traffic Calming" concepts provided to us by the New Mexico Department of Transportation, which encourage street parking on residential streets as natural barriers that slow speeding traffic. The core argument has always been against removing those natural barriers for the safety of residents and children who walk to school. The current plan, like the previous one, increases the speed of traffic and moves that traffic closer to pedestrians.

Forcing traffic to one side will cluster vehicles around driveways of residents on the east side whenever their neighbors have company or a gathering, making it virtually impossible to safely back out of driveways.

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During the eight-month battle to save our street, we found no evidence through traffic studies, DPS or census records that there is any problem on Juniper that needs to be fixed. Residents observed an average of six to nine cars parked on a half-mile stretch of Juniper. When asked who was complaining, the commission could provide no record of phone calls or emails asking for something to be done.

In my profession, we are encouraged to use evidence-based practices to guide our decisions. It's time that the Alamogordo City Commission does the same.